The Heir of Hufflepuff
by OtakuTuesday
Summary: "'Your blood does not match your mind, my dear. It seems that, despite your ancestor and your name, you would best be placed in the House of a different founder,' the Hat explained." Rating subject to increase
1. Prologue by Flash Forward

**Well here it is; my first Harry Potter fanfiction! I'm super excited. This is a flash-forward. Sort of like if this story was a oneshot (which it's not going to be), this chapter would be the entire story. Anyway thank you for reading and reviewing! :D**

**Disclaimer: I am American. Therefore I am not J.K. Rowling, and do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with it.**

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><p><strong>PROLOGUEFLASH-FORWARD THING WHATEVER**

"Hufflepuff, Alice!"

"Good luck!" Ellen whispered to her twin sister, and right after she did, a low murmur started growing throughout the hall.

"Did she say Hufflepuff?" one of the other first-year students behind Ellen whispered.

"Four guesses where she's going; and the first three don't count," giggled a girl at the near end of the Ravenclaw table.

"Silence, please," Professor McGonagall said as Alice, hands shaking, stepped forward and sat on the stool. As the Sorting Hat covered Alice's eyes, Ellen couldn't help but wonder: was the sorting of direct descendants of Helga Hufflepuff herself really necessary? Surely, even if she were meant for another house, it wouldn't matter, because of her famous heritage?

Ellen didn't have much time to consider the matter, because the Sorting Hat had not been on Alice's head five seconds before it shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" for the entire hall to hear.

There was far less applause for Alice than there had been for the students before her. Most of the hall was murmuring and smirking, as they had known where she would be placed the moment her name was called. Professor McGonagall had to call for silence again before she called the next name.

"Hufflepuff, Ellen!"

If Ellen had thought the reaction for Alice was bad, the one for herself was much worse. Many girls and a few boys burst out into laughter, and groups of others made what sounded like snide remarks to each other.

"Do I need to put a silencing charm on the lot of you?" Professor McGonagall sighed. "Ellen, if you please," she said, much softer, to the now shaking from head to foot Ellen.

The last thing Ellen saw before the hat fell over her eyes was Alice at the Hufflepuff table, beaming. She gave Ellen a quick thumbs-up, and then Ellen saw just the blackness of the inside of the hat.

Even though she couldn't see them, Ellen could feel every eye in the hall staring at her. But she quickly forgot about everyone else in the hall as the Sorting Hat began to speak in a little voice in her ear.

"How _very_ interesting," the Hat spoke, "you have a very famous ancestor, as I can tell. One that I knew personally. She helped found the school and gave me her knowledge. I'm glad to see her line hasn't died out yet. But perhaps…I see that maybe one tradition _will_ die out today."

Ellen gulped. She had no idea what the hat was referring to, but it made it clear a moment later.

"Your blood does not match your mind, my dear. It seems that, despite your ancestor and your name, you would best be placed in the House of a different founder," the Hat explained. It was strange, he sounded amused. Almost…pleased.

Ellen started breathing very fast, and she could feel the sweat on her hands as she clutched the stool. _How can that be? _She thought, _my whole family's been in Hufflepuff for…forever!_

"Then you would be the first to break the chain," the Hat replied. "So, I now present you with this choice, Ellen. You can choose Hufflepuff House, be with your sister, and please your family. Or, you can stray to another path, one that I think will best serve you as an individual. The choice is yours."

Ellen felt as if her brain were running in slow motion while everything around her was going normal speed. And some things, like her heart and her lungs, were working faster than normal.

_Well,_ she finally thought, _I never really thought I had a choice in the matter._

"Choices are what make us who we are," the Hat whispered, "the only things holding us back are ourselves."

_I always thought that I was going to be in Hufflepuff, because of my heritage,_ Ellen continued quickly, afraid that if she stopped she might not be able to say it, _but if you think that I would be better placed elsewhere, _she paused, and shocked herself at what she was about to say, _then so be it._

"If you trust me," the Hat said. Before she could change her mind, Ellen nodded, and the Hat shouted to the hall, "SLYTHERIN!"


	2. Chapter 1

**So here's the story from the very beginning. Hope you all like it! Leave a review telling me what you think- constructive criticism is always appreciated! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

"Oh, I can't believe that our little girls are all grown up and going to Hogwarts!" Samuel Hufflepuff exclaimed of his daughters. "Why, it seems only yesterday that your mother and I met on the Hogwarts Express in my first year!" He stood proudly and tall, which was unnecessary because he was already a very tall man who had to duck when he walked through certain doorways. He was thin, but had broad shoulders and was deceptively strong. He absentmindedly brushed his sandy hair out of his brown eyes and looked down upon his identical twin daughters.

"Yes, it's very exciting," Dianne Hufflepuff said calmly, as she was not as exuberant as her husband. She also had soft brown eyes, and her hair was a strawberry-brown color. She was average height, but was still about a foot shorter than her husband. She smiled. "I'll never forget my days at Hogwarts. They were so very magical." The family of four laughed at her pun. "So," she bent and looked into the faces of her daughters, "are you ready to start the most magical seven years of your life?"

"Yeah!" the twins cheered, bouncing up and down. Their chocolate-brown eyes shone with tears of laughter and excitement. They were not quite as tall as the average eleven-year-olds, but if one piggybacked another they would certainly be tall enough. The twins' names were Alice and Ellen, and they wore matching overall-jumper outfits; Alice with a purple t-shirt underneath, Ellen with a blue one. Alice wore her hair pinned on the right side, and Ellen wore hers on the left. Other than that, they were completely indistinguishable from one another, identical to the last freckle (although they didn't have many of those).

The Hufflepuff family of four lived in a small suburban Muggle town, blending into the crowds very easily. Mr. Hufflepuff's reasoning was that he worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. "The best way to learn about Muggles is to live among them, seemingly as one," he often said, "that is why we live in this town. They really are quite fascinating."

"So is it true that there's moving staircases at Hogwarts?" Alice asked.

"And unicorns in the forest?" Ellen added.

"And the giant squid?"

"And real ghosts?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and of course yes," Mr. Hufflepuff smiled, nearly bouncing, himself. "Oh, I wish I could go with you girls. What I wouldn't give to go back to Hogwarts. What do you think, should I get a teaching position there? I make a great forgetfulness potion!" He grinned.

"I'm not so sure about that," Mrs. Hufflepuff said lightheartedly, putting her hand on his arm.

"Oh don't worry, I won't scare the kids," Mr. Hufflepuff smirked.

"It's not the kids that I'm worried about," Mrs. Hufflepuff whispered to the twins. They giggled.

"Well, today is August 31st, the last day before you go to school. What's say we get some ice cream, and spend some time together? We won't see you for quite a long time after you leave."

After dinner, the four went to Scoops, their favorite Muggle ice cream parlor. They ordered two ice cream sundaes to share, not holding back on the toppings.

"Gee, Alice, we should go away more often," Ellen giggled through a mouthful of vanilla.

"Can we get ice cream every time we go away or come back?" Alice asked her parents. They laughed.

"Of course we can, sweetheart," Mrs. Hufflepuff said, taking a spoonful of chocolate with peanuts. "What better way to celebrate the magical educations of our two favorite daughters!" She held up her water glass to make a toast.

"To Alice and Ellen, our favorite little Hufflepuffs!" they all clinked their glasses together and drank.

"Hey Dad," Alice said, "tell us the story of the Hogwarts founders again."

Mr. Hufflepuff started telling the story without a moment's hesitation. He spoke in a low voice, so as to not let the Muggles overhear. "Hogwarts was founded a thousand years ago by some of the greatest witches and wizards of the time: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Each of the four founders created their own House for the school, and chose which students they deemed most worthy to teach for their own House. Helga Hufflepuff was a very kind witch. She didn't care if the students were bold or clever; she took everyone who was willing to learn, as long as they worked hard and were nice to each other." The other three smiled and nodded in agreement. "Now, when she retired, she returned to her home village and spent the rest of her days with her son and grandson. Many, many generations have passed since Helga, but our line, from me, goes directly back to her. Thus, you have the very famous, and rightly so, surname Hufflepuff. Everyone in my line has been sorted into her House," he continued, "so I can't wait to hear from you saying you got sorted into the house of yellow and gold! Cheers!" they clinked glasses again.

"Nicely told, Dad," Alice grinned. "Maybe with our names, they won't even bother to give us the Sorting Hat. They'll just put us right at the Hufflepuff table."

"That's my girl," Mr. Hufflepuff draped an arm around Alice and squeezed her in a side hug.

"I can't wait to go to school!" Alice and Ellen nearly shouted as they exited the ice cream shop. Their parents followed behind them, smiling and chucking.


End file.
